With adaptability and creativity, ICMC has provided vital protection to refugees and vulnerable members of host communities at heightened risk due to the ongoing pandemic, in Jordan, Malaysia, and Pakistan.
Caring for Children and Youth at Risk
In Jordan, over 2,400 girls and boys had a safe place to learn and play in ICMC’s Child Friendly Spaces. These facilities offer activities to children from refugee and host communities in the North of the country, structured according to gender, ability, and age.
Sixty-five adolescent girls and young women who are survivors or at risk of child marriage took part in our life skills courses. The peer groups help prevent gender-based violence through discussions on health, human rights, human dignity, and mutual respect. Course participants also had the opportunity to build crucial social support networks.
Our youth empowerment program used digital channels to give just under 565 young people a safe place in which they could talk with their peers about the issues they and their communities are facing and find ways to address these together.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ten teachers from two refugee learning centers — one for the Somali and one for the Afghan community — and 13 parents from a school serving refugee communities completed ICMC training on children’s safety. We also produced an animated video for the Rohingya refugee community showing how to respond to and prevent child sexual abuse.
2438
girls and boys participated in age-appropriate activities at ICMC Jordan’s Child Friendly Space
871
vulnerable youth from refugee and host communities received counseling at ICMC’s Urban Cohesion Hub in Islamabad, Pakistan
21607
refugee children had access to quality education in northwestern Pakistan
68291
uniforms, hygiene kits, and lap desks were distributed to school children by ICMC Pakistan, and 2,438 children in Jordan received educational supplies
ICMC Pakistan responded to 34 assessment referrals by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to protect children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Using official UNHCR procedures, our staff evaluated each child’s situation, assessed the risk of sexual and/or gender-based violence, and determined the best support.
The ICMC Urban Cohesion Hub in Islamabad promotes social cohesion among refugee and host communities. In 2021 it provided counseling for some 870 vulnerable youth. Over 230 children participated in the hub’s Child Friendly Space, while more than 150 parents attended related programs.
In 2021 COVID-19 once again limited in-person schooling, but ICMC worked to ensure that refugee children´s right to access education was nonetheless maintained.
Working with nearly 350 principals and teachers, ICMC Pakistan liaised with refugee parents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during periods of school closures and raised awareness about pandemic protective measures. We ensured that the 60 refugee schools with which we partnered were disinfected prior to re-opening and supplied teachers and students with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
To equip the children for school, we distributed more than 48,000 uniforms, along with some 11,800 hygiene kits and 8,500 lap desks. We also ensured that teachers had supplies. Among the teaching staff were 67 new teachers, whose hiring we facilitated through a transparent selection process.
In total, ICMC helped nearly 21,500 refugee children in six districts of the province access quality education. We promoted the enrollment of girls, who in 2021 represented well over a third of pupils supported by ICMC, an increase in comparison to previous years.
In Islamabad and Punjab province, we supported school enrollment for 35 boys and 30 girls. At the Urban Cohesion Hub, more than 65 Afghan refugee children took Urdu literacy classes, and 150 students benefitted from learning resources.
In Malaysia, our assistance provided a pandemic financial cushion, allowing a number of Rohingya children to return to school rather than work to help ensure their families’ survival.
Refugee children participating in ICMC Jordan’s Child Friendly Spaces benefitted from school kits.
For a time, I had lost my confidence, my identity, and myself. I was scared of what was ahead of me.
Mariam, Syrian refugee and former 15-year-old bride-to-be, who through ICMC Jordan’s youth empowerment program returned to school and now wants to become a doctor
Protecting Highly Vulnerable Groups
Despite pandemic constraints, ICMC Malaysia’s sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) response assisted 961 refugees and asylum-seekers in Kuala Lumpur, the Klang Valley and the northwestern states of Penang, Kedah, and Perlis. Our outreach programs and specialized services provided a safe way for survivors to report sexual and gender-based violence and access services to find protection, determine their next steps and begin healing. And we worked to raise awareness about SGBV and make communities safer.
In 2021, ICMC maintained a Refugee Protection Corps (RPC) of 17 members. These women and men from the Rohingya, Middle Eastern, Chin, Somali, and Afghan communities respond to incidents of sexual and gender-based violence and work to prevent violence in their respective refugee groups in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
To build sustainable community change, we offered online SGBV-awareness training for more than 450 refugees and equipped over 60 refugees to educate community members about SGBV.
Our case management staff assisted over 200 survivors of SGBV. Though the need for placement in a safe shelter remained high, many at-risk refugees were prevented from accessing this protection due to movement restrictions and other pandemic-related factors. Despite these challenges, we were able to arrange for nine women and their children to stay at either the Global Shepherds Berhad or Rumah Perlindungan Sosial (RPS) shelter and to receive such support as medical treatment, counseling, and assistance in filing a police report.
We supported 93 adult SGBV survivors with counseling and 28 children with play therapy to work through their traumatic experiences.
961
refugees were assisted through ICMC Malaysia’s programs for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence
185
vulnerable survivors of sexual and gender-based violence received financial support from ICMC Malaysia to meet basic needs
In 2021, ICMC partnered with the Rohingya Society in Malaysia (RSM) to offer protection to 23 survivors and women at risk of SGBV along with their children at RSM’s transitional home. Over 95 survivors and women at risk received one-time financial assistanceto cover the costs of rent and essential goods. A second ICMC project supported 90 particularly vulnerable survivors of SGBV with cash and in-kind items to ensure they remained safe while meeting urgent needs.
Later in the year, we launched the video series “Creating Peace at Home” to respond to the increased risk of domestic violence caused by the pandemic. Four of the videos teach Rohingya refugees how to cook an easy dish as a fun and safe family activity, while another two provide couples with tips on communication and conflict resolution. Nearly 800 viewers followed the video series.
In Islamabad and Punjab province, ICMC Pakistan supported over 95 forcibly displaced people with counseling to cope with displacement and assisted 45 refugees in dealing with socioeconomic concerns.
Eight families needing protection found refuge in our safe shelter, where they received medical assistance, counseling, English and computer instruction, recreational opportunities, and schooling for their children.
In June, over 140 adults and children took part in our activities to mark World Refugee Day, which explored the theme “Together we heal, learn and shine.”
The ICMC-initiated Urban Cohesion Hub in Islamabad created 15 committees to support community development projects. More than 60 refugee volunteers completed training on identifying vulnerable members of their community held at the hub, while a further 630 people took part in information sessions on SGBV.
We provided legal assistance to over 115 people seeking asylum, referring them to a specialized NGO where necessary.
Participant in ICMC Pakistan's Women's Day 2021 activities.
My parents gave me the confidence that as a woman, I can change my reality by believing in myself; believing I am equal and have the right to equal opportunities.
Amidst the ongoing pandemic, ICMC Jordan used social networks and video conferencing to enhance protection for vulnerable children and adults.
Our intergenerational groups made connections between over 570 young people and older individuals, reducing social isolation and allowing them to share their respective life experiences. Through our positive parenting course, 710 parents and caregivers learned effective, nonviolent disciplinary strategies that promote their children’s development and create a safe family environment.
ICMC provided psychosocial support to 95 refugees and vulnerable Jordanians through individual counseling sessions.
In 2021, we began training local community committees on protection issues and leadership to drive social change. Through our program for men and boys, 30 newly minted allies are promoting gender equality in their communities.
These activities provided me with an opportunity to raise my thoughts and feelings; today, I am aware of my rights and responsibilities, and I am capable of solving my difficulties without the assistance of others.
Participant in a life skills session offered by ICMC for refugee girls and young women at risk of child marriage in Mafraq, Jordan, during the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
10850
viewers in the Rohingya refugee community in Malaysia watched videos from ICMC’s series on preventing sexual and gender-based violence and creating peace at home
629
members of refugee and host communities in Islamabad attended information sessions on sexual and gender-based violence protection
572
young and older people in Jordan connected through ICMC’s intergenerational groups
MEMBER’S STORY
A Safe Place for Unaccompanied Migrant Street Children
Djibouti’s relative prosperity among the nations of the Horn of Africa and its proximity to the wealthy countries of the Arabian Peninsula have placed it firmly on the migratory map.
Among those on the move from neighboring countries in search of a better life are unaccompanied children. They often end up homeless in the capital, Djibouti City — around 85% of those on the street are boys between the ages of seven and 18 from the Oromo region in Ethiopia, 500 kilometers away.
Theirs is a precarious life, according to the manager of a day shelter for street children run by Caritas Djibouti, ICMC’s member in the country.
Volunteers and migrant children prepare lunch at Caritas Djibouti’s day shelter.
“They come here to escape severe poverty in Ethiopia, often sent by their families to find work,” she says. Once in Djibouti City, they face the risk of exploitation and sexual abuse, and their irregular migration status means they have few places to turn to for help. Many resort to sniffing glue or using other substances to escape their misery for a while.
Caritas Djibouti has been working to protect street children in this context of extreme vulnerability. Since 2004, children can shower, have a meal, receive health care, take part in educational activities and play in safety at a day center run by the organization. Each child who comes to the center is registered and comes under the care of a social worker, who helps ease the path of reintegration through services such as schooling.
“This is a place in Djibouti where unaccompanied migrant street children feel at home and free,” says the manager. “We aim to provide a space where they feel comfortable coming to us with their problems.” She adds that she is called “mother” by many of the 120 children who are welcomed at the shelter each morning.
As well as providing more immediate protection, Caritas Djibouti works to find long-term solutions tailored to each child. This may mean supporting their integration in Djibouti through a placement with a local family or facilitating a return to their families back in Ethiopia. Caritas Djibouti collaborates with the International Organization for Migration to enable voluntary returns and reintegration once they are back home. A night shelter opened in 2019 accommodates children waiting to return to Ethiopia as well as street children who have fallen ill.
